Please remember that the 8th Grade Awards and Promotion
Ceremony is this Thursday, June 13 at Watkins Mill High School. The
ceremony begins at 7:00 pm (students should arrive at 6:30.) Parents and family
members are encouraged to attend to honor student and recognize their
achievements.

Watkins Mill High School
10301 Apple Ridge Rd.
Gaithersburg, MD 20879

The school is just off Watkins Mill Rd. in Montgomery Village.

The ceremony will begin with a video tribute to all 8th grade students,
followed by a musical selection performed by the band and chorus. Students will
receive a Certificate of Promotion and individual students will be presented
awards for excellent achievements in specific categories. Our staff has worked
hard to put this event together and we hope you can attend.

Also, please note that the 8th grade cruise and dance is Friday, June
14, dress is semi-formal.

Students should meet at FOMS at the usual start of the school day (by 7:55
a.m.) Buses will leave for the cruise shortly after roll and GMFO.

Parents must be at FOMS to pick up students at 2:15 p.m.

Parent volunteers needed!

The Forest Oak Middle School Health Room is looking for
volunteers from May 28 - 30 (1 per day or 2 to share the day) to help out with
the Hearing and Vision screening of Grade 8 students and students who are
"newly enrolled" at MCPS.

If you can help, please contact Lorelei Irons at Forest Oak at 301-670-8242 or
Lorelei_Irons@mcpsmd.org.

The Forest Oak PTA Book Fair is this week!
May 20 -24

Students will have an opportunity to purchase books during the
school day.

Family Book Fair night is on Tuesday, May 21, 6:30-8:00 p.m., the same evening
as the students' End of Year Music concert.

Come out and support the school and buy some summer reading material!

Principal Williams receives Ph.D from University of Maryland!
Congratulations!
Click HERE for the
picture

COME TO THE LAST PTA MEETING OF THE SCHOOL
YEAR!

The last FOMS PTA meeting for 2012-13 is Tuesday, May 14, 2013,
at 7:00 p.m. in the Media Center.

Please come and participate to support our students. We need ideas and comments
from everyone!

Don't miss this very important meeting. If you know the family of any incoming
6th graders, invite them to come!

We're almost at the end of the school year! Please let us know
if you would be willing to help FOMS PTA next year. There are positions open
with various time and effort requirements. Even if you have a demanding daytime
schedule or travel frequently, you can still help our school to help our
students.

1. This Saturday, April 20 is our Forest Oak Earth Day Clean up from 9:00 am
- 12:00 noon. There are limited volunteers openings for students and they
MUST sign up with Ms. Stovicek in the front office this week. We would love
parental volunteers, too. And we are also happy to accept any donations of
flowers and mulch. We will be weeding, mulching and planting flowers to
beautify the Forest Oak grounds.

2. The April FOMS Newsletter is here:April 2013 Newsletter. Please take a
few minutes to download and read it. Thanks to Laura Weihrauch for putting this
together!

3. The last PTA meeting of the year will be Tuesday, May 14 at 7:00 p.m.
Among other items, we will elect our PTA leaders for next year. If you are
interested in helping in any way with the PTA next year, please email or call
Val Rivers (vicepresident@forestoakpta.org). It's so much easier to plan NOW
for next year than to scramble at the start of next school year.

4. Teacher Appreciation week is May 6-10, 2013. The PTA is planning an
event for our staff, but please plan to send a special thank you to your
student's teachers, if possible. Thank you notes, emails, small gift cards,
flowers - anything at all! They work so hard all year and it's nice to say a
special thanks. (NOTE: Ms. Terri Foster, FOMS Administrative Secretary, will be
retiring at the end of the school year. She has been with MCPS for 20+ years
and at Forest Oak since it opened!)

5. Spring Donation Drive - A flyer went home this week asking for
financial donations to the PTA. Spring 2013 Donation Letter We do not
have another major fundraiser planned this year, and we are requesting
financial donations of any amount as an alternative. Thank you for your
consideration.

Stay tuned for more details from the school. And a reminder that a brand new,
state-of-the-art Gaithersburg High School will be opening next year! What a
great improvement for our students, the GHS staff and our community. It's been
a LONG time coming!

Please let Val Rivers (vicepresident@forestoakpta.org) know if you have any
questions.

Please come to the final Forest Oak PTA Meetings!

Tuesday, April 9, and Tuesday, May 14, 2013, at7:00 p.m. in the
Media Center

There is a lot to be done for this year and next. Please come to these
important meetings!

Updates and discussions on:
Parents of 6th and 7th graders needed for PTA roles next year! Contact V.
Rivers.
If you know the parent of an incoming 6th grader who would like to help,
contact V. Rivers
A review of Pi Day (March 21), donations, volunteers, and the PTA.
Continued discussion about a cell phone tower on FOMS property.
Earth Day clean-up/beautification; Sat., April 20, 2013; volunteers needed.
Contact B. Karray.

Thursday, March 21, 2013 is Pi Day at Forest Oak. We need your
donated pies. This is a big deal at the school. Every student receives a piece
of pie at lunch on March 21. But we need you to donate pies to make this
happen. The school has only received about 25% of the pies needed so that each
student can have a piece of pie on Pi Day.

Questions can be directed to Lorraine Freeman at FOMS at
Lorraine_A_Freeman@mcpsmd.org. Thank you!

Pi Day across the country is March 14th (3.14, the digits of pi); Pi Day is a
day to celebrate math across the US. Since we were having MSA tests on the
14th, we had to move the date to March 21. Please help our students show that
we all love math by bringing some pie and helping to serve if you can!

In addition to desperately needing pies, we also need VOLUNTEERS to help on
Thursday, March 21. The PTA volunteers cut and serve the pies. We need help in
the morning and all three lunch shifts. Please volunteer if you can! Click here to
sign up! If you have any questions, please let Valerie Rivers, PTA VP, know
asap at rivwood@verizon.net or the number on the Contact Us page.

FOMS has asked for donations of individual Fruit Snack packets to support our
students as they take the MSA tests in March. If you can contribute any Fruit
Snacks, please drop them off at the FOMS office during business hours.

8th Grade parents are needed to support spring activities. If you are able to
help, please contact Val Rivers (vicepresident@forestoakpta.org).

6th and 7th Grade parents are needed to fill positions in the PTA for next year
(2013-14 school year). If you can donate a few hours to support our students,
please contact Val Rivers (vicepresident@forestoakpta.org).

We have several upcoming PTA activities and volunteers would be welcome. Some
of our spring events are spring fundraisers, spring membership drive, spring
Bookfair, staff appreciation activities, end of year and graduation events and
test support activities. Please contact Becky Karray
(volunteercoord@forestoakpta.org) if you can help with any of these activities.
Watch this web page for details as we get into our spring semester.

A proposal that the PTA and the FOMS PE Department work together to create a
family activity night has been discussed, to be used as a fundraiser and to
encourage families to be active together. There could be various activities at
FOMS for families to try, supervised and supported by parent volunteers and by
PE staff. Mark Alexander, a FOMS PTA parent, took the action item from the
December meeting to be creative with some spring fundraising; he contacted the
FOMS PE Department and together they will present the possibilities for family
activity night. As always, we can use the event to promote membership and have
car magnets available.

The spring 2013 PTA Newsletter has been published! Thanks to Laura Weihrauch
for her super work. If you have any info on FOMS students to publish in the
next newsletter, please contact her at newsletter@forestoakpta.org.

At the meeting, we will hear from PTA President Marisel Schank, Treasurer Kelly
Schelling, and Principal Art Williams. December meeting minutes will be posted
on the PTA Documents page to refresh memories about action items. If you have
any corrections, please contact Lisa Hobbs (secretary@forestoakpta.org).

Please be sure to check out the Support FOMS page of the website for
information about helping FOMS by registering your store loyalty cards. Also,
please be sure to collect Box Tops coupons on Box Tops products. We received
about $200.00 in the fall from the Box Tops for Education program. Keep looking
for those Box Tops!

Be there at 7:00 p.m. to hear all about plans for the new year and how we can
all help our kids do their best.

Please park in our school lots: in front of the school (use blue lines) and in
back of the school on the basketball blacktop. You may also park in the
Saybrooke Homeowners Association Swimming Pool Lot (Thank you SHA!) Please do
not park in the Saybrooke neighborhood!

Dear FOMS PTA:

The January 2013 Forest Oak Middle School Newsletter is attached! Our PTA email
list is somewhat limited, so please feel free to share with other parents. We
do NOT send home hard copies. Thanks to Laura Weihrauch for her time and effort
in putting the newsletter together.

We will discuss a proposal that the PTA and the FOMS PE Department work
together to create a family activity night to be used as a fundraiser and to
encourage families to be active together. There could be various activities at
FOMS for families to try, supervised and supported by parent volunteers and by
PE staff. Mark Alexander, a FOMS PTA parent, took the action item from the
December meeting to be creative with some spring fundraising; he contacted the
FOMS PE Department and together they will present the possibilities for family
activity night. As always, we can use the event to promote membership and have
car magnets available.

We will hear from PTA President Marisel Schank, Treasurer Kelly Schelling, and
Principal Art Williams. December meeting minutes will be posted on the PTA
Documents page.

Be there at 7:00 p.m. to hear all about plans for the new year and how we can
all help our kids do their best.

PTA Meeting Flyer (will come home in backpacks on February 6, last call for
items to be included in the flyer is February 5, 2013).

Parking

Please park in our school lots: in front of the school (use blue lines) and in
back of the school on the basketball blacktop. You may also park in the
Saybrooke Homeowners Association Swimming Pool Lot (Thank you SHA!) Please do
not park in the Saybrooke neighborhood!

News for Monday, January 28, 2013

Due to weather conditions MCPS, including FOMS, will open 2
hours late.

Readiness Tone 9:50 am

GMFO and Tone 9:55 - 10:00 am

School Starts 10:00 am

Classes are about 30 minutes each. School ends at the regular time 2:40 pm

Montgomery County Public Schools will close early today (Jan.
25) due to emergency weather conditions. Schools will dismiss students two and
one-half hours earlier than the regular closing time. Students in morning
pre-kindergarten programs and morning half-day Head Start will be dismissed at
10:30 a.m. Afternoon pre-kindergarten and other early childhood programs are
canceled. All school activities also are canceled. Day care programs in school
buildings will remain open as scheduled. A decision about community activities
in school buildings has not been made.

FOMS PTA wishes all students, parents, staff and all interested
FOMS supporters a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year. We all send
our best wishes to the teachers and staff at FOMS for a super spring to follow
such a fabulous fall. Everyone who works at Forest Oak Middle School has our
deepest appreciation for the excellent instruction, support, help and guidance
they provide to our students every day.

Winter break starts after school on Friday, December 21, 2012, and ends with a
new school day on Wednesday, January 2, 2013.

Our first full PTA meeting of the new year will be held on Tuesday, February
12, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in the Media Center. More details on speakers and topics
are to come, watch for the PTA meeting flyer in your student's backpack.

If you haven't joined the PTA yet, you're not too late! Please click on the PTA
membership form link on the PTA Documents tab or below on this page, fill out
the form and return it to FOMS with your check. Support your students and join
the PTA for the new year.

Thanks to everyone for a very successful 2012 year!

Come to our December PTA Meeting!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012, at 7:00 p.m. in the Media Center

Our next membership opportunity will be at FOMS Talent Night on Friday,
December 14, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. We will have a table with membership forms and
car magnets available. If you can help the Drama Club with selling tickets
(6:00 p.m.) please contact Ms. Natale or Ms. Hamilton.

We will hear from PTA President Marisel Schank, Treasurer Kelly Schelling, and
Principal Art Williams.

Our special topic speakers will be the Science Department Chair, Anita O'Neill,
and the Math Department Chair, Rebecca Corey. They will be discussing changes
in the Science and Math programs as part of the restructuring. Restructuring
has affected department goals, prompted curriculum changes, changed teaching
models and strengthened staff development efforts. Come and hear about how our
students are progressing!

Be there at 7:00 p.m. to hear all about the new school year and how we can all
help our kids do their best.

Please park in our school lots: in front of the school (use blue lines) and in
back of the school on the basketball blacktop. You may also park in the
Saybrooke Homeowners Association Swimming Pool Lot (Thank you SHA!) Please do
not park in the Saybrooke neighborhood!

Fall Book Fair is Here! Online Ordering Has
Started!

Parents and Students are Welcome!

Our Fall Bookfair is coming the week of November
26-30! This year's theme is All Star Readers.
Students are encouraged to wear a team jersey on the day they buy books to win
a free prize.

Please come and support our school and our students! A portion of all book
sales helps FOMS PTA buy books for the FOMS library. Parents may purchase gift
certificates to help teachers build up classroom libraries.

EMERGENCY MESSAGE: 10/28/2012 at 2:45 PM

Montgomery County Public Schools will be closed on Monday,
October 29 and Tuesday, October 30, due to emergency weather conditions. All
school and community activities in school buildings are canceled.
Administrative offices are closed Monday October 29.

Please park in our school lots: in front of the school (use blue lines) and in
back of the school on the basketball blacktop. You may also park in the
Saybrooke Homeowners Association Swimming Pool Lot (Thank you SHA!) Please do
not park in the Saybrooke neighborhood!

Come to the Lakeforest Silver Diner for the first Dine-Out
fundraiser for FOMS PTA!

FOMS PTA is partnering with the Silver Diner in Lakeforest Mall
to have a Dine-Out fundraiser. A portion of the profits at the Lakeforest
Silver Diner from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. on Friday, October 5, 2012, will be donated
to FOMS PTA. Come and support your students, teachers, and staff and have a
wonderful family dinner at the same time. Some of our students' older siblings
(High School age) will be helping at the Silver Diner as part of our fundraiser
to gain SSL hours, be sure to say "hi".

We hope you will come and meet your student's teachers and
staff and learn about the new year at FOMS. You can also meet other parents and
get information about various support groups for your student. There will also
be a PTA table with car magnets and membership forms; all are welcome to stop
by and find out more about PTA. For only $20 per family you can support an
entire year of activities at Forest Oak; in appreciation of all your hard work,
teachers and FOMS staff only pay $10. Join now!

Arrive by 6:40 p.m. because parking areas can fill up quickly.

6:00 p.m. Health Class meeting in the Dining Room

6:55 p.m. Go to your student's first period class to hear a special Good
Morning Forest Oak and begin your evening.

7-9:00 p.m. Go to your student's classes and see what your student's day is
like.

9:00 p.m. Dismissal

Parking

Please park in our school lots: in front of the school (use blue lines) and in
back of the school on the basketball blacktop. You may also park in the
Saybrooke Homeowners Association Swimming Pool Lot (Thank you SHA!)

Please do not park in the Saybrooke
neighborhood!

We hope you join the PTA to help us support our students at
FOMS!

Some early dates:

August 22 - PTA Board Meeting

August 23 - Practice Bus Run for incoming students, morning
Open House at FOMS 3-4:00 pm

Please park in our school lots: in front of the school (use blue lines) and in
back of the school on the basketball blacktop. You may also park in the
Saybrooke Homeowners Association Swimming Pool Lot (Thank you SHA!)

Please do not park in the Saybrooke
neighborhood!

Join FOMS PTA!

For only $20 per family, you can help support your student(s), Forest Oak
Middle School, Montgomery County PTA, and Maryland State PTA. Membership funds
support PTA activities such as scholarships for students to activities, student
events throughout the year, staff appreciation events, etc. If you have any
questions, please contact our membership chairs Marisel and Valerie
(membership( at )forestoakpta.org ).